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Judge orders NCAA to pay $46M in fees to Ed O'Bannon lawyers

A federal magistrate judge ordered the NCAA to pay nearly $46 million in attorneys' fees and costs to lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Ed O'Bannon class-action antitrust lawsuit against the association.

Judge orders NCAA to pay $46M in fees to Ed O'Bannon lawyers

A federal magistrate judge on Monday night ordered the NCAA to pay nearly $46 million in attorneys' fees and costs to lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Ed O'Bannon class-action antitrust lawsuit against the association.

Nathanael Cousins' decision came nearly a year after U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled that the NCAA's limits on what major college football and men's basketball players can receive for playing sports "unreasonably restrain trade" in violation of antitrust laws. Although the case — which began in the summer of 2009 — did not include a financial damages component, Wilken ruled that the plaintiffs "shall recover their costs from the NCAA."

The NCAA has appealed the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Appeals, and a three-judge panel heard oral arguments in mid-March but has yet to issue an opinion.

The fees-and-costs award could be affected by the appellate panel's decision.

But for now, Cousins' ruling means the plaintiffs' lawyers stand to receive more than $44.4 million in fees and more than $1.5 million in costs and expenses — close to what they were seeking.

The plaintiffs' lawyers had asked for nearly $45.6 million in fees and nearly $5.3 million in costs and expenses.

The NCAA argued in a filing in February that they should receive a total of less than $10 million in fees and costs. In his opinion, Cousins indicated that the NCAA later attempted "to find a middle ground" by seeking a 50% reduction in the plaintiffs' fee request.

The association had claimed that the plaintiffs were only partially successful compared to the original scope of their case, making many of their legal-fee and cost claims impermissible. The NCAA also alleged that the plaintiffs' fees and costs resulted from inefficiency and over-staffing.

Concerning the NCAA's contentions about the case's relative lack of success, Cousins wrote: "Admittedly, there are distinctions between the facts underlying the successful and unsuccessful claims. At the same time, the Court finds that a common core of facts underlay all of the claims plaintiffs brought against the NCAA during the five years of litigation: the claims are all premised upon defendants' exploitative use of plaintiffs' names, image, and likenesses to generate revenue for defendants. ...

"Here, plaintiffs did not succeed on every claim. But the time spent on the unsuccessful claims contributed to the decisive success by laying the groundwork for the eventual trial victory."

"This win against a behemoth of an institution like the NCAA could significantly change American college sports; in particular, the way the NCAA treats its student-athletes," Cousins wrote.

Cousins alluded to A Game of Thrones, "where," he wrote, "individuals with seemingly long odds overcome unthinkable challenges, but suffer stark losses along the path to victory. ... For plaintiffs, their trial victory in this adventurous, risky suit, while more than a mere game, is nothing less than a win that warrants attorneys' fees for work spent on all clams — successful or unsuccessful."